Lots of people repeated "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy" and Nirka had always hated the phrase. What the fuck did they expect? Did they really think that a plan laid out on a bunch of maps in a room somewhere would actually play out in the real world?
She hadn't been surprised when the revolution turned ugly, not when the oppressors turned to violence and not when things went wrong. Those who understood what she did had always been ready for a brutal war to take back their freedom. It was going to be rough, things would go wrong, and she was prepared for all of that.
Now, as she watched the great crystal rain shards down on her allies, she understood the saying.
It wasn't that anyone was that naive about battle plans, it was a reminder not to overreach. And, like a fool, she had ignored the warning and volunteered for this attempt to seize the harbor. In her mind, it hadn't been a complex plan, just another way of sneaking around the enemy and hitting them where it hurt. And if the battle plan had survived, everything would have been perfect.
Instead, they desperately tried to hide behind stones as their force was cut down. Nirka didn't even know what exactly had gone wrong, but for some reason the great crystals at the gate weren't providing them cover. Maybe the merchant oppressors had guessed about their plan, maybe they had inside information, maybe the crystals were all just more defended than they had expected.
Whatever the reason, it had all gone to hell.
Maggle was doing his best to ward off a Ruby Crystallier who would tear through their other forces. She should have been joining him, but Nirka realized that the plan was out the window. That crystallier was only a temporary objective - unless someone took down the crystal, they were all at risk.
Just as she'd feared, a ray of power slammed down into the combat area. Maggle was bound in place, and he would have died if his opponent hadn't been pinned as well. But it would be a bad idea to bet that they couldn't narrow the beam later, and if they could, he was dead.
Nirka climbed up the side of one of the harbor walls, getting steadily closer to the great crystal. It wasn't unleashing any of the crystal shards at her, and there was only the one freezing beam. The crystallier at the top didn't feel so strong, so she just needed to get up there. She'd have to trust Maggle to handle himself, but taking out the great crystal was the only way for them to survive after the battle plan had fallen apart.
She reached her vantage point, readied her spear, and leapt.
And a second beam of qi caught her, binding her in place in midair.
The battle on the ground was still raging out of control, too chaotic for anyone to target her. It looked like the man using the great crystal was pushed to his limits, even if he had the presence of mind to freeze her too. That left Nirka screaming and thrashing, struggling to overcome the beam and failing.
Was it really going to end like this? She'd relied too much on the plan in the attack, but if they'd planned more she might have known that the crystal could split its attention in two directions. If she hung in the air and watched her allies be cut apart while she was helpless...
Then someone swept across the docks and the battle changed in an instant. Kai ran faster than she had ever seen him move before, his eyes burning with an unnatural light. The soldiers in front of him collapsed, some even falling into the harbor. Yet despite the ferocity of his steps pounding against the stones, he was precise, taking out the enemies with a focus on their archers without harming any of the workers. Just in the first few seconds of his arrival, the tide had turned.
Kai sprinted into the freezing beam and it didn't seem to touch him. The qi shook the remnants of his shirt but couldn't slow him. Instead of attacking the Ruby Crystallier directly, he clapped his hands together as he passed in the bite technique she had seen occasionally. It tore off the woman's arm and she screamed as she struggled to resist the qi beam enough to grasp the injury.
By that point Kai was already past, grabbing Maggle and taking him out of the beam. He kept his head about him, and as soon as he was free he began throwing knives at the other crystalliers. Nirka couldn't think so clearly, she was just staring at Kai in awe.
Especially as he shifted in her direction, crouched down, and then leapt.
In a second he caught her with one arm and pulled her out of the beam. Nirka found herself pinned against him, flattened against his chest by one muscular arm. The ease with which he rescued her, the confidence with which he grabbed her... Nirka could feel her heart pounding and it wasn't from the battle.
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When they landed, the crystallier immediately turned to unleash a blast at them. Kai struck it out of the air with another of his strange techniques, defending her. No, not just defending her... he deflected the qi into the enemy forces below, further scattering them.
Nirka gritted her teeth, determined not to be an emotional girl. Kai might have rescued her, but she was still holding her spear. She pulled back and hurled it at the top of the crystal.
The crystallier barely managed to catch it and the force pushed him away from the controls. In an instant, the great crystal stopped striking the battle below and the tide turned further in their favor. But she had barely finished her throw when Kai scooped her up again, this time leaping them both to the top of the crystal.
Once there, for a brief glorious moment she fought at his side. Between the two of them, the crystallier didn't stand a chance and was soon hurled into the harbor with her spear through his chest. But then it was over and Nirka knew that she couldn't keep up with Kai. He had inspired her to be more, and for a brief time she had thought she might actually run alongside him, but she'd come up short.
"We have the harbor crystal, despite everything," Kai said. He put a hand on her shoulder, and it was just the gesture of a fellow revolutionary, but that hand felt so strong...
"What happened to the plan?" she asked.
"I have no idea, I just saw this was the biggest crisis when I woke up." Kai released her shoulder and looked out over the city. "No matter what went wrong, the enemy army is still coming. Defend this point and use the great crystal however seems best."
Then he was gone, leaping over the side with no concern for the long fall to the city below. Nirka stared after him for a time, then pulled herself together. She found a usable spear on the floor and took the crystallier's sword to jam into her belt. When they tried to take the great crystal back, she would do her part or die trying.
Despite the early chaos, it seemed like things had turned in their favor. The three crystals that were the greatest threat to them had all been captured or neutralized. From her position, it looked like the nobles only controlled one of the great crystals and didn't dare to attack. Workers were pouring into the city, beating down soldiers completely unprepared for their strength.
But no plan survived contact with the enemy. Nirka didn't want to find out what that would mean.
.
..
.
After hours of agony, Kai felt euphoric.
The change had been nothing like when he broke through to E rank, which had been past due and required reconciling himself with his monstrous nature. When Omilaena had injected him with two different liquids, he had expected them to collide within him in some sort of battle for dominance.
But no, there had been no question that both sides were him. As they fought against the poisons and transformed his body, they merged even closer together. It had felt like he was trapped in painful darkness for days, so when he had woken up, he was almost shocked to hear the battle going on. All their plans for it felt like memories from a past life.
At times he'd been frustrated with the barrier to D-rank Physique, standing firm despite all his training and ordeals. It didn't seem fair that it could be so unattainable on Deadwaste, that he trained for months without acquiring any new power. But now that he'd broken through, it felt entirely worth it.
<
Name: Kai Clanless
Total Power: 354
Cultivation: Body Refinement 21% (105)
Physique Level: D-0 (200)
Soul Level: 7 (49)
Monstrous Hunger - X (kappa)
Behemoth's Heart - VII (eta)
Direboar's Strength - X (kappa)
Isulfr's Bite - VI (zeta)
Tyrant's Claw - VI (zeta)
Void Gaze - V (epsilon)
-
Shadow of Death (???)
Acidic Lance - V (epsilon)
Infernotoad's Burst - VI (zeta)
Lizarkyl's Tail - III (gamma)
Direurchin's Spikes - III (gamma)
Sahagin's Lungs - III (gamma)
Wallcrawler's Feet - I (alpha)
Beastbat's Wing - I (alpha)
Crystal Slime - I (alpha)
>
Just as it had been for the others, the jump to D-rank Physique had been enormous. When the top crystalliers saw him now, even just seeing his human side, they'd hesitate. He didn't think his body had changed again, except maybe getting a little taller and more muscular, but he could feel the increased potential for monstrous transformation and held back to avoid scaring his allies.
His monstrous hunger roared within him, as if awakened by the breakthrough. He knew there was more potential to reach for, just as soon as he had the space for training. That seemed unlikely, in the midst of the battle, and even more unlikely due to the energy rushing through his veins.
Overwhelming even the power in his soul was the sense that he was more himself. Everything about Kai seemed to have been heightened, from his sight and hearing to the feeling of the wind against his skin when he leapt. His base drives were even worse: he wanted to fight an army, laugh at the top of his lungs, duel a mortal enemy to the death, eat a horde of monsters and then a feast after that. When he'd rescued Nirka there had been a part of him that wanted to pin her against a wall and take her right in the middle of battle.
It took consistent willpower to keep himself focused on the fighting, because he knew he was far from invincible. There was still so much that could go wrong, and the odds would only keep piling up against them the longer the battle went on. He loped to the center of the city, looking for their main army and their objectives.
In an ideal world, they would have broken into the city, seized all five great crystals, and conquered Mercantile Central before Suortril's army arrived. The army had definitely broken, but the crystals were a scattered mess, and Mercantile Central... it looked like the merchant headquarters were defended by a great wall of crystal that was shrugging off the attacks being launched against it. He ran there to add his strength to the others, but as he ran he leapt high enough to look over the city walls.
In the distance, he could see Suortril's army advancing, and all the Diamond Crystalliers with them. They were running out of time.